"Cherries & Marble"

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"Cherries & Marble"

5 x 7 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Cherries on marble have a great look to it I was beyond excited to get this painting started when I paired them up.  The slick smooth surface on the cherries I think meshes well with the rough textures on the marble, I also like the shine on the cherries.  As stated before painting marble is very challenging but glad I keep doing it because it teaches me something new every time.  Looking at these cherries for such a long time while painting them was torture for not being able to eat them, needless to say when I finished painting them I enjoyed every bite of it. 

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and a bit of raw umber on the brush, then I  stated the background and middle value to the base.  I keep the paint fairly thin at this stage this allows me to control the values from the beginning.  Then I start on the front part of the marble just concentrating on the middle to darker values first, I don't just paint the darkest darks first I slowly build up to it.  The colors I used where cerulean blue, ultramarine blue, titanium white, naples yellow, and ivory black.

Once the middle values where working and had a map of where to put the darker darks I then stated the darkest values and their specific forms.  Once that was complete I stated the middle to lighter values, I repeat the same process as I did when starting to state the middle darker values.   I like to slowly progress to the lightest and darkest values this allows me to control the blending and textures I'm going for.

I repeat the same process for the top of the marble.

Then I start cherries all at once just stating the middle values, I like to lay in all the general colors in the cherries at this stage.  Once thats complete I start on the first cherry stating the middle darker values and building up to the darker values with their specific forms.  Then I start on the middle to lighter values and  progress to the lighter values with their specific values.  The colors I used for the cherries are alizarine crimson, cad. red light, cad. yellow light, and ivory black.

I repeat the same process with the second cherry.

And do the same with the third and forth cherry.

Then I completed the fourth cherry then went back into the marble and took the cast shadows to a finish. As stated before its very challenging to paint marble and glad I did so, I learn so much every time I paint it.  I recommend anybody who wants to learn how to render different types of textures in one plain should definitely paint marble, its a great learning experience.  I hope you guys enjoyed this one, thanks for stopping by and viewing!